19 replies to this topic

[Reinhard]

Canadian dancer Jason Reilly and Spanish born Ivan Gil Ortega have been promoted to principal dancers.
Maria Eichwald from Munich will join the company as a principal dancer in January 2004.
Because of injuries, Roland Vogel, principal,  had to quit his career as a dancer and will join the famous Academy de Danse Classique Princesse Grace in Monte Carlo as a teacher.
Yseult Lendvai is looking forward to have her 2nd baby and will not return on stage.
Her husband, Robert Conn, solist, has left the company.
Thomas Lempertz, Solist, has left the company and quit his career as a dancer.

Reid Anderson could win former Stuttgart dancer Egon Madsen as a guest-teacher.

First premiere in Stuttgart (dec. 5th 2003) will be LULU, a new full-lenght ballet, choreographed by resident choreographer Christian Spuck. It is based on music by Shostakovich and Alban Berg.

Also very interesting, the 1983 by John Neumeier choreographed work 'Endstation Sehnsucht' (a streetcar named desire) by Tennessee Williams will be in the rep again this season.

A successful and healthy season for all dancers.

[Jasper]

Reinhard, thanks for this information!
Company news are always interesting - and not always published "officially"!
Please keep on reporting what's going on in Stuttgart (so I know which performances are "worthwhile" travelling there from Munich!)  

[CDM]

Reinhard, thanks much for the news.  Always most interested to hear any info from the Stuttgart Ballet.  Look forward to hearing more from you as time goes on.

Regards...Doug.

[Reinhard]

As announced in Stuttgart newspapers, Reid Anderson is about to continue his very successful work with Stuttgart Ballet up to 2009. However, contracts are not yet signed.

Seen in the online dance magazine "Tanznetz": Alessandra Ferri, the Italian star- ballerina, will guest in Stuttgart in January 2004 as Blanche DuBois in John Neumeiers "Endstation Sehnsucht".  Her partner will be Jason Reilly.

[CDM]

Reinhard....will you be in attendance this Friday at the season opening performance of Swan Lake?  Also, it appears that Mr Reilly is doing quite well for himself as a new principal.

Regards...Doug.

[Reinhard]

Doug, I am so sorry but I won't be able to see any of the Swan Lakes.

I fully agree about Jason Reilly. He has done a huge jump in his development.
Last time i saw him was in Romeo and Juliet with Alicia Amatriain. Both did very, very well.
However, Jason Reilly is not in the cast for Swan Lake. The cast for Friday 26th. is:

Odette/Odile: Alicia Amatriain
Prinz Siegfried: Friedemann Vogel

I had the chance to attend a public rehearsal for Giselle with Alicia Amatriain and Friedemann Vogel and I must say, it was very impressing. Friedemann Vogel is a very elegant dancer.

[CDM]

Reinhard...sorry to hear but I will look forward to other news/reviews you are able to post.

Regards...Doug.

[Reinhard]

Doug, have you been able to see any of the Swan Lake performances over the weekend? If so, it would be nice to hear your opinion. There have neither been reviews in the Stuttgart newspapers nor in the german 'Tanznet'.

Regards Reinhard

[CDM]

Reinhard,

I live in Oklahoma, USA, and have not been able to see the Stuttgart since their tour of the U.S. last year.  My interest in the Stuttgart is that my dd dances in the Corps there and I am always interested in any knowledgable feedback I can get.

My dd has told me that Friedemann Vogel and his partner looked wonderful "as usual".  The one thing that I learned from her in a conversation this morning is just how very young Friedemann is for a principal dancer.  He must be quite special to achieve that level at so young an age.

The majority of the company is preparing to leave for Cairo tomorrow morning.  She will go to Cairo then to Holland for a gala performance with Marijn Rademaker.  They will perform the pdd from the first act of Romeo and Juliet.  

Appreciate hearing from you and warmest regards...Doug.

[Alexandra]

Reinhard, looking at the Stuttgart's seasons lately, it seems as though they are moving away from story ballets a bit -- more contemporary programming.  I know this is is ancient history now, but after Cranko's death, Glen Tetley was brought in (the theory being the company wanted a choreographer) and he only lasted a year (or was it half a year?) because the audience wanted Cranko ballets. (I'm remembering this from articles in Dance and Dancers at the time.) What's the feeling now, would you say?

[Reinhard]

Alexandra, Glen Tetley was in Stuttgart for 2 years and Stuttgart owns him more than thankfulness. After Crankos death he helped Stuttgart Ballet to survive.
It was a short time having him here in Stuttgart. That time, Stuttgart wanted only Cranko. The audience was not 'ripe' for Tetley. The separation was not in pure harmony as you can imagine.
In the season 2001/2002, Reid Andersen brought American Masters. A triple bill with choreographies of Americans. This included Glen Tetleys Pierrot Lunaire with Robert Tewsley as Pierrot. It was a huge success and when Mr. Tetley, who coached the piece, came on stage, he got tremendous applause. He seemed to be moved and very happy.
In a newspapere interview he talked about his Stuttgart time, told about his herbal garden at his house and stuff...He said that the situation that time was very difficult but now he seems to be in harmony with Stuttgart

Sure, there is a move to more contemporary ballets although the audience loves full lenght story ballets.

We will have a world new battet premiere in the next couple of weeks. It's Lulu, a monstre tragedy by Frank Wedekind. Choreographed by resident Stuttgart choreographer Christian Spuck. Its a full lenght ballet. Music: Alban Berg / Dimitri Shostakovich.

Doug, would you please explain to me what a 'dd' means. Sorry but I dont come along with these engl. abbreviations. May I ask which dancer your relative is?

[CDM]

Reinhard,

Sorry about that...means dancing daughter.  

Regards...Doug.

[Alexandra]

Thank you, Reinhard.  Yes, Tetley and Cranko are very different, and I think that an audience used to one would be slow to accept the other -- either way.  Thanks for the story about Tetley.  I interviewed him about "Pierrot Lunaire" for my book on Kronstam because it was done in Denmark (and Kronstam was Brighella) -- and he had some fascinating stories about it.  He read a lot about the commedia (by coincidence, he'd first become interested in it by seeing the pantomime theater in Copenhagen's Tivoli and remembered it) and told me things I did not know -- that Pierrot was white because he was a baker's assistance; it's not clown's paint, but flour, and that Brighella was black because he lived on a rock outside the city and was baked by the sun.  I hadn't enjoyed WATCHING "Pierrot" very much (I'd seen it when I was very new to ballet) but I certainly enjoyed hearing about it and I'd like ot see it again. (He was a fascinating person to interview, very intelligent -- and very kind.)

I saw that the company was doing the Lulu ballet -- I just did the season's preview issue for the print version of Ballet Alert! -- and was interested in it.  I hope you'll write about it when it premieres.

[CDM]

Reinhard,

Daughter is Elizabeth Mason.

Regards...Doug.

[Jasper]

Doug, she's the one I had picked out at once when I first saw her in a school performance!
Plus she did a terriffic job in the German round for the European Young Dancers competition (sorry, don't know the exact name) when that was held in Munich some time ago - felt so sorry she did not win, but then it was only modern stuff the jury seemed to be after!
Hope you'll be able to see her live on stage soon!